Worst fears came true with downed MH17

FLASHBACK: Robert Ayley, 29, from Wellington, with his wife Sharlene on their wedding day. Rob died in the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash over the Ukraine.

SUPPLIED

KILLED IN UKRAINE: MH17 victim Robert Ayley, second from left, a close friend of Invercargill man and fellow Rottweiler breeder Bill Patterson at a dog show in Wellington, in March. The pair are with judge Louise Wallace, far left, and Patterson’s wife Wiki Te Tau and a young champion dog.

Relevant offers

Invercargill man Bill Patterson's fears turned into a real life nightmare when he heard the news his close friend Rob Ayley had been on a commercial plane shot down over the Ukraine.

Several weeks earlier on his way to the Netherlands to meet up with his mate and fellow Rottweiler breeder, Patterson's flight took him over the same stretch of war-torn eastern Ukraine.

''I flew over the same airspace on my way to Amsterdam and I realised where we were and wondered what the hell are we doing here,'' Patterson said.

''I knew exactly what was going on down on the ground in that part of the world. I knew it wasn't the best place to be. I knew who was fighting who and what sort of armoury they had.''

A man who loved flying, Patterson said he felt uneasy.

''I really thought when I was on that plane going over [Ukraine] well here we go. I wouldn't be surprised to see a surface to air missile around this area.''

Patterson looked out his window to see the disputed territory in a far flung corner of the world beneath him.

''I was quite conscious of that.''

However, dozens of commercial carriers flew hundreds of times in the area where the plane was shot down in the last week.

Patterson made it to Amsterdam and met up with Ayley for a trip to visit Rottweiler breeders across Europe and eastern Europe.

The pair covered 10,000km in a car together driving through the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Croatia and Serbia where they spent time with a Serbian family.

The return drive took them back through Hungry and the Czech Republic.

''Rob loved Eastern Europe and it's people. A lot of them don't have much but they share what they do have,'' Patterson said.

A separate booking also meant separate flights home for the friends. A phone call from his wife Wiki Te Tau as he stepped off his flight in Christchurch on Friday alerted Patterson to the news that had brought his fears of flying over Ukraine airspace to life.

It had also shocked the world.

Robert Ayley, 29, of Otaki, was among the 298 passengers and crew who died when the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was shot out of the sky by a missile over Ukraine on Friday.

The bodies of the dead, Patterson's friend amongst them, lay scattered, torn and charred in a sunflower field in the middle of a war zone.

''I got a text from Rob while I was on a stop over in Singapore. He was just about to get on his flight. He told me what a great trip it had been and he was looking forward to getting home to his family,'' Patterson said.

''He said he was a little bit nervous getting on the plane. He wasn't that comfortable a flyer.''

The ripples from the tragedy have travelled across the globe and four days after Flight MH17 was downed, what had happened was ''still sinking'' in, Patterson said.

''It's hard especially when you see on TV the bodies lying around. You hope his [Rob's] and all the others have been secured,'' he said.